Living in the north of Brazil, facing an estuary of the Amazon river, I blog about Brazil and life in the delta of the Amazon. Serious issues with a wink to the sometimes light-hearted Brazilian society, including its curiosities and a touch of its beauties.

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World Cup 2014 – Brazil needs a kick in the ass. Right or wrong?

In an interview on Friday March 2, the FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke said the organizers of the 2014 World Cup needed a “kick in the ass” for the way the construction works for the World Cup progress in the country, and said that preparations in Brazil are in a “critical state”.

FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke

And as to be expected the Brazilian reacts petulantly, even childish. Of course the words were not well received by the Brazilian government. Words of truth never are welcome. The minister of sports, Aldo Rebelo, said on Saturday (03/03) that he no longer wants Jerome Valcke as a FIFA representative for matters related to the 2014 World Cup. “The statements are unacceptable, inappropriate for the Brazilian government”. A childish statement and he made it even worse.

On Monday (05/03), Aldo Rebelo sent a letter to Switzerland seeking a new interface between the Brazilian government and the governing body of world football. According to the Minister of Sports, “the form and content of statements are beyond the acceptable standards of harmonious coexistence between a sovereign country such as Brazil and an international organization such as the FIFA”.

Childish, as the arrogance of the FIFA will forbid them even to think about replacing Valcke. Apparently the Brazilian doesn’t yet realize that he sold his soul to the FIFA.

But let’s look at Jerome Valcke’s words: “Brazil needs a kick in the ass”. Right or wrong? The words might be a bit clumsy, as Marco Maia, president of the Chamber of Deputies, characterized them, but when you live in Brazil you might probably tend to look at the word: Right!

Does Brazil need a kick in the ass? Let’s have a look at the progress in the construction works of the stadiums which are part of the World Cup 2014. Less than 800 days from now. Decide for yourself.

Site of six World Cup games, the construction of the stadium Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador/Bahia, is for 55% completed

Eight World Cup stadiums have less than 50% of the construction works completed.

The Ministry of Sports revealed on Tuesday April 3, a balance on the construction works in the stadiums for the World Cup 2014. Only 800 days to go before the opening of the competition, eight of the twelve arenas have less than 50% of the construction works completed. The figures released are more optimistic than the Tribunal de Contas da União (TCU = Federal Court of Audits), which puts only two stadiums halfway completion.

Stage of the final match of the World Cup 2014, the stadium Maracanâ in Rio de Janeiro has only 39% of the construction works completed

The official government survey is based on visits by the monitoring team of the ministry of sports and information received from representatives of the seats. According to these data, the stadium Castelão in Fortaleza/Ceara, is the most advanced, with 60.4% of the construction works completed. Followed by Belo Horizonte (MG) and Salvador (BA), both with 55%, and Brasilia (DF), with 54%. For the TCU, however, only Fortaleza and Salvador were more than halfway.

Staging the opening of the World Cup 2014, the stadium of Corinthians has 30% of the works completed

The stadiums which are most significantly behind schedule are the Beira-Rio in Porto Alegre (RS), with 20%, and Arena das Dunas in Natal (RN), with 20.5% of the construction works completed. Stage of the opening ceremony of the World Cup is stadium Itaquerão in São Paulo (SP), with only 30% of the works executed, according to the government’s balance sheet. The stadium for the closing ceremony, Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro, has 39% of the works executed.

Problems in releasing of funds delayed the reform of the stadium Beira-Rio in Porto Alegre/Rio Grande do Sul. Only 20% of the construction works were realized

Still below 50% are the Arena Pernambuco, in Recife, 32%, the Arena da Amazônia in Manaus (AM), 38%, and the Arena Pantanal in Cuiabá (MT), 43%. The government figures for the town of Curitiba in Minas Gerais escape the pattern.

The stage for four World Cup games, the Arena Pantanal in Cuiaba/Mato Grosso, begins to take shape. The construction work has already reached a 43%

Instead of giving a total of the works executed, the government opted to inform that the part of the reform of the stadium is underway with 52%, while the new facilities, which include part of the arena, media centre and parking, have only 11% executed.

The Estádio Nacional de Brasília (National Stadium of Brasilia) will receive the opening ceremony and match of the Confederations Cup in 2013. The construction works are for 54% completed

The report of the federal government for 11 of the 12 stadiums is more optimistic than that published by the TCU, despite the two surveys being published in March. Only for Beira-Rio, where the works have stopped, both agree that the progress is 20%. The greatest divergence of data is for Brasilia, where the government sees 54% of the works executed and TCU only 42.5%.

So, tell me, Jerome Valcke is right or wrong.

For the stadium of Atlético-PR in Curitiba/Paraná, which will see four matches of the World Cup, the construction works are for 52% completed

The stadium Castelão in Fortaleza/Ceará, is the stadium with the most advanced works as 60.44% of the schedule is completed

Brazil seems to like to imitate all that is bad in other countries. And so Brazil is imitating the hooligans from Europe in an ill-conceived attempt to belong to the first world. The violent death of a Palmeiras supporter in a conflict with supporters of Corinthians shows that Brazil insists on copying the violence of English hooligans, while in England the police, football teams and organized supporter clubs have largely managed to control it.

The World Cup in two years from now, can only bring the worst. Wouldn’t the delay in the construction of the stadiums, the vagueness about the Law of the World Cup, and the lack of infrastructure at airports, suffice? Will we see a clash between the European (English and Dutch) and the newly (and proudly) formed Brazilian hooligans.

The news about the death is reverberating around the world, accompanied by photos of heavily armed police in clashes with people around the stadium. Nobody was expecting this from Brazilian football fans. It is an awful recommendation for those who wish to travel to Brazil for the World Cup or the Confederations Cup.

Welcome to the World Cup 2014.

Estádio do Mineirão in Belo Horizonte/Minas Gerais, has 55% of the construction completed

The Arena Pernambuco, which is being built in São Lourenço da Mata, exceeded the expectations, in March, 32% of the construction works were completed

The Arena Amazônia, in Manaus with 38% of the work completed, will host four matches